Hurdle having a displaceable crossbar



May 21, 1968 w. E. BAUM HURDLE HAVING A DISPLACEABLE CROSSBAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 28, 1965 May 21, 1968 w. E. BAUM HURDLE HAVING A DISPLACEABLE CROSSBAR 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan.

zlrraxP/vm s United States Patent 3,384,367 HURDLE HAVING A DISPLACEABLE CROSSBAR Wendell E. Baum, 1009 North Court, Ottumwa, Iowa 52501 Filed Jan. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 428,656 9 Claims. (Cl. 272-59) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device having a pair of upright standards comprised of telescoping members adapted to rotate relative to each other, a gate member being pivoted to the upward telescopic member and being movable between open and closed position with the free ends of the gate members being closely adjacent each other when in a closed position and spaced apart when in an open position, a spring means interconnecting the telescoping members and cooperating cam means on each of the telescoping members to yieldingly lock the members in either open or closed positions upon said gate members being moved a predetermined distance, and a second cam means on each standard for yieldably locking said gate members in vertically disposed open and closed positions.

Injuries may occur in any human endeavor and track and field events are no exception. In particular, hurdling has heretofore had more than its share of injuries to participants. A principal reason for this has been that the standard hurdles are solid unitary assemblies. Thus, if a runner misses the hurdle and falls onto it or catches his foot or leg on it, he is likely to be injured. The top bar of the hurdle is ordinarily rigid and does not give under the fall of the runner. Moreover, hurdles are not easily tipped over and accordingly athletes may be severely injured by accidentally running directly into the hurdle. A perhaps equally serious problem with existing hurdles is that the concern on the part of the athlete for the risk of an accident is so great that it is believed that many athletes will either not participate in this event or do not do as well as they might if the hurdle being used were absolutely safe.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a hurdle device which will minimize if not eliminate injuries.

A related object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which includes horizontally pivotal gates which may be actuated to an open position when accidentally hit by a runner.

A still further related object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which has a pair of gate members pivotally connected to a pair of standards wherein a substantially crossbar is formed which is adapted to yieldingly pivot in both vertical and horizontal planes.

Another related object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which can be quickly adjusted to vary the force required to open the gates.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which has a leveler assembly for maintaining the gate members in horizontal alignment when closed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which may be easily upset by being rocked over if hit straight on.

A still further related object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device having a pair of gate members forming a top bar which are yieldingly locked in either an open position or a closed position.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which may be quickly collapsed fOr transporting and storage.

3,384,367 Patented May 21, 1968 A further object of this invention is to provide a hurdle device which is simple in design, economical to manufacture and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be aparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the clzi nils, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in w to FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hurdle device illustrating several of the various positions to which the gate members may be moved;

FIG. 2 is a front-on elevation view of the hurdle device as a runner approaching it might view it;

FIG.3 is a left end elevation view of the hurdle device in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation view of the hurdle device in its collapsed condition;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged exploded perspective view of the upright standard including the means for maintaining the gate members in either Open or closed positions;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevation View of a gate member on the upright standard when the gate member is in its horizontal closed position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 7 but with the gate member pivoted degrees;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary exploded view of the registerin g free end portions of the gate members; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 10- 10 in FIG. 2 illustrating one of the frame members interconnecting the two upright standards.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, the hurdle device of this invention is referred generally by the reference numeral 10 and is shown to include a pair of standards 12 having pivotal gate members 14 which cooperate to form a top bar for the hurdle. A pair of frame members 16 and 18 interconnect the upright standards 12.

In FIG. 5, the upper part of the vertical upright 12 is illustrated. The gate member 14 is connected to a solid shaft 20 (FIG. 1) which is telescopically received in an elongated tube 22. The lower end of the shaft 20 is provided with an apertured car 23 engaged by a tension coil spring 24 which extends into the upper end of the tube 22. A stub shaft portion 26 disposed in the tube 22 has an apertured car 28 which detachably engages the lower hook of the coiled spring 24. The stub shaft 26 is provided with a threaded opening 30 which is engaged by a threaded bolt 32 having a handle member 34 on its outer end. The bolt 32 is inserted into a longitudinal slot 36 in the tube 22 and is adapted to engage any one of a plurality of vertically spaced apart horizontally disposed slots 38.

After the shaft 20 has been inserted into the tube 22, a stud element 40 is inserted through a cam slot 42 and is received in a threaded hole 44 in the shaft 20. The cam slot 42 includes a pair of generally vertical slot portions 46 which are interconnected by an upper slot portion 48. The upper slot portion 48 is provided with a concave lower edge surface 50 while the vertical slots 46 have lower ends 52 which serve the same function as the concave edge surface 50. It is obvious that when the stud element 40 is resting on the upper cam surface 50 that the spring 24 is under greater tension than when it is in engagement with either of the slots 46 at their ends 52. Moreover, the tension in the spring 24 may be selec tively adjusted by moving the stud 32 into the appropriate slot 38 from the common vertical slot 36.

The lower end of the tube 22 also telescopically receives a cylindrical member 56 having a plurality of vertically spaced holes 58 formed therein. The lower end of the cylindrical member 56 is received in a hollow tube 60 provided with a removable pin element 62 for selective engagement with one of the openings 58. A nut element 64 is welded onto the outer face of the tube 60 and is disposed in alignment with the opening therethrough to threadably engage the pin element 62 (FIG. 2).

A base foot member 66 is formed integrally with the lower end of the tube 60. As seen in FIG. 3, each of the ends 68 of the foot member 60 are tapered outwardly and upwardly to thereby permit the upright standard 12 to rock in either direction along a line paralleling the line of travel of a runner.

A leveler assembly 70 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6 through 8 interconnects the gate members 14 to the upright shafts 20 and thereby maintains the gate members 14 in horizontal alignment. The leveler assembly 70 includes a channel member 72 which embraces longitudinally the shaft 20. A leaf spring 74 is placed against the shaft 20 between the side walls of the channel 72. An outwardly facing convex surface 76 is formed longitudinally of the base portion of the channel 72 and as illustrated in FIG. 7 matingly engages an outwardly facing concave surface 78 formed in the outer side of the base of a channel 80 bolted to the outer end of the gate member 14. A bolt member 82 extends through the base portions of the channel members 72 and 8d and also the shaft 20 as well as the leaf spring 74 and finally is engaged by a manually adjustable nut element 84. It is thus obviously seen that when the mating surfaces 76 and 78 are in engagement with each other (FIGS. 6 and 7) the gate 14 is maintained in a positive horizontal position as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The gates 14 are illustrated as being constructed from wood material; however, they may be made of any other suitable material which has sufiicient rigidity to assume a horizontal position when in use. It may be desirable to cover the wooden gates 14 with rubber or plastic material to further minimize the chance of injuring a runner upon contacting one of the gate members.

To present a continuous bar across the top of the hurdle 10, a pair of sleeve elements having registering fingers 92 have been provided on the inner free ends of the gate members 14 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 9).

Interconnecting the upright standards 12 are a pair of frame assemblies 94 and 96. Each of the frame assemblies 94 and 96 include a pair of arms 98 pivotally connected at their inner ends by a bolt fastener 100 and pivotally connected at their outer ends to the standards 12. In particular, the upper frame assembly 94 interconnects the tube members 22 while the lower frame assembly 96 interconnects the lower tube members 60. The upper frame assembly 98 should be spaced close enough to the gate members 14 to prevent the runners from going directly through the hurdle 10 but on the other hand low enough to prevent any injury to the runner should he fall on or through the gate members 14.

It is seen that the hurdle unit 10 is quite versatile and can be adjusted in three principal ways to meet the requirements of the particular field event. First, the height of the bar formed by the gate members 14 is determined by the adjustment of the member 56 relative to the tube 60. The stud 62 is accordingly placed in the appropriate aperture 58 in the telescopic member 56. Secondly, the tension in the spring 24 is adjusted by moving the stud 32 to the appropriate slot 38 thereby controlling the amount of force required to open the gates 14. The lower the stud 32 is positioned along the tubular member 22, the greater the force required to open the gates 14 as the locking engagement of the pin 40 with the cam surface 50 will be greater. Thirdly, the amount of force required to pivot the gates 14 in a vertical plane as illusassgssr trated in FIG. 1 may be varied by adjusting the leveler 70. The hand sized nut 84 bears against the leaf spring 74 to maintain the convex surface 76 in mating engagement with the concave surface 78 in the channel members 72 and 80 respectively.

Accordingly it is seen that the possibility of injuries to the runner are minimized by the use of this versatile hurdle. If the runner catches his thigh or ankle on the gates 14 as he passes over them they will simply pivot in a horizontal plane as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1 to an open position as shown by the dash lines. The runner will receive at the most a bruise. If on the other hand the runner should fall on top of the gates 14 they will pivot downwardly as indicated by the arrows to the dash line positions; Lastly, should the runner hit the hurdle straight on, it will be able to fall over easily as the base feet 66 are rounded on their ends permitting the hurdle to rock easily and fall over.

Additional versatility of the hurdle 10 is illustrated in FIG. 4 where the device is collapsed for transporting or storage. The arms 14 are pivoted downwardly to their vertical positions and the frame assemblies 94 and 96 are loosened and moved upwardly thereby drawing'together the vertical upright assemblies 12. The bolt assemblies may be retightened to lock the hurdle 10 in its collapsed condition of FIG. 4.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my hurdle without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included Within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a hurdle device, comprising, a pair of spaced apart standards, a pair of gate members, means pivotally connecting said gate members to said standards to pivot in a horizontal plane, means yieldingly maintaining said gate members in alignment with each other and in a horizontal plane, said gate members having free ends with fingers meeting in registering relationship whereby a substantially continuous bar is formed between said standards and said fingers in registering relationship being freely movable relative to each other in a horizontal plane.

2. In a hurdle device, comprising, a pair of spaced apart standards, a pair of gate members, means pivotally connecting said gate members to said standards, means for yieldingly maintaining said gate members in a closed position in alignment with each other and in a horizontal plane, and means for moving and holding said gate members in an open position upon said gate members being horizontally pivoted to a predetermined angle, said gate members being in a horizontal plane in said open position.

3. In a hurdle device, comprising, a pair of spaced apart standards, a pair of gate members, means pivotally connecting said gate members to said stand-ards, spring and cam means for yieldingly maintaining said gate members in a closed position in alignment with each other and in a horizontal plane and upon said gate members being pivoted to a predetermined angle towards an open position, said means yieldingly maintaining said gate members in said open position, and said gate members being in a horizontal plane in said open position.

4. The structure of claim 3 and adjustable means for varying the amount of force required to move said gate members from an open position to a closed position.

5. In a hurdle device, comprising, a pair of standards, a pair of arms pivotally connected together and pivotally connected to said standards, a gate member pivotally connected to each of said standards, said hurdle device adapted to be moved between an extended position and a collapsed position, said arms and said gate members each being disposed in a horizontal plane and perpendicular to said standards when in said extended position and substantially parallel to said standards when in said collapsed position and said standards being moved between a spaced apart position when said device is in its extended position to a position being closely adjacent each other when said device is in said collapsed position.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said standards each have base members which extend only along a line being parallel to the line of travel over said hurdle, each of said base members having outer ends with longitudinally outwardly and upwardly tapering bottom surfaces.

7. The structure of claim 5 wherein said standards each have base members which extend only along a line being parallel to the line of travel over said hurdle and said base members each having an end portion on one side of said standards having a bottom surface being tapered longitudinally outwardly and upwardly whereby said hurdle may rock over upon being hit.

8. In a hurdle device, comprising, a pair of upright standards, each of said standards including a pair of vertically disposed telescoping upper and lower members, said telescoping members being adapted to rotate relative to each other, a gate member pivoted to each of the upper telescopic members, said gate members adapted to move between closed and open positions, said gate members having free ends which are closely adjacent each other when said gate members are in a closed position and spaced apart when in said open position, a spring means interconnecting said telescoping members, cooperating cam means on each of said telescoping members to yieldingly lock said members in first and second positions against relative rotation, said spring means tending to maintain said cam means on each of said telescoping members in engagement with each other in both said first and second positions whereby upon said gate member being moved a predetermined distance towards an open position said cam means yieldingly locks said telescoping members in said first position and said gate in said open position and upon said gate being returned to said closed position said cam means yieldingly locks said telescoping members in said second position and said gate in said closed position.

9. The structure of claim 8 wherein one of said cam means includes a pair of cam surfaces spaced apart relative to the longitudinal axis of said telescoping members, said other cam means being in engagement with one of said surfaces in said first position and the other surface in the second position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 662,810 11/1900 Peak 27259 932,142 8/ 1909 Kimmel 27259 1,982,934 12/1934 Squire 27259 2,706,631 4/1955 Holmes 27259 ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

M. R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner. 

